Joe Don Baker

Joe Don Baker (born February 12, 1936) is an American character actor and a life member of the Actors Studio. He established himself as an action star with supporting roles as a mysterious cowboy drifter in Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969), and as a deputy sheriff in the western Wild Rovers (1971), before receiving fame for his roles as a mafia hitman in Charley Varrick (1973), real-life Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser in the action film Walking Tall (1973), a brute force detective in Mitchell (1975), deputy sheriff Thomas Jefferson Geronimo III in Final Justice (1985), and police chief Jerry Karlin in the action-comedy Fletch (1985). He is also known for his appearances as both a villain and an ally in three James Bond films: as Brad Whitaker in The Living Daylights (1987) and as CIA Agent Jack Wade in GoldenEye (1995) and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997).
Life and career
Baker was born in Groesbeck, Texas, the son of Edna (née McDonald) and Doyle Charles Baker. He attended the North Texas State College in Denton and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1958. He served in the United States Army.
During the 1963–64 Broadway season, he appeared on stage in Marathon '33 at the ANTA Theatre in New York City. His career had its roots in television, though he did appear in several movies, including an uncredited part in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke. He appeared in many television series, graduating to featured guest roles in such series as The Big Valley (in which he played a Harvard-educated Native American with a penchant for fighting) and Mod Squad (where he appeared as an illiterate vending machine robber). He was the title character in the 1971 TV movie Mongo's Back in Town, starring Telly Savalas.
Standing at 6'2" tall (189 cm), Baker's physical prowess and stereotypical Texas drawl would prove perfect in Westerns, both on film and television. While working regularly on television on shows such as Bonanza and Gunsmoke, he appeared in supporting roles in such films Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969) and Blake Edwards' Wild Rovers, but his film career did not quicken until he scored the role of Steve McQueen's younger brother in Sam Peckinpah's Junior Bonner, a film about a contemporary rodeo cowboy, which was released in late 1972.
Lancer
Baker appeared in the pilot episode of 1968's Lancer, titled "The High Riders", as the main villain, "Day Pardee". This role was later fictionalized in Quentin Tarantino's 2019 film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood—changed to 'Decoteau' and played by Leonardo DiCaprio as Rick Dalton. He went on to appear in a later episode as Clovis Horner in 1970.
Walking Tall
His breakthrough came with the 1973 film Walking Tall, directed by Phil Karlson. He starred in the filmmaker's final work, Framed, two years later. Released in February as a regional exploitation picture, Walking Tall connected with audiences and became an unexpected hit, circulating for national distribution with a new TV ad campaign using the slogan, "When was the last time you stood up and applauded a movie?" The film eventually earned $23 million at the box office. His performance was praised by influential film critic Pauline Kael, but he decided not to star in the sequel.
Later that year, his work in Charley Varrick helped solidify Baker's reputation. He also co-starred with Robert Duvall in the 1973 crime film The Outfit and starred in the 1974 adventure film Golden Needles. In 1977 he had leading roles in Checkered Flag or Crash opposite Susan Sarandon and The Shadow of Chikara with Ted Neeley and Sondra Locke.
On April 10, 1978, the two part television program To Kill a Cop premiered. In it Baker is paired with Louis Gossett Jr. as police detective. Baker co-starred with Karen Black in the miniseries Power (1980), a scarcely-disguised story of labor leader Jimmy Hoffa.
Baker played the Whammer, a baseball player modeled on Babe Ruth, in the 1984 baseball drama The Natural, which starred Robert Redford. In 1985, he portrayed the corrupt Chief Jerry Karlin in Fletch. In the UK, he played CIA agent Darius Jedburgh in the BBC Television drama serial Edge of Darkness. He was nominated for Best Actor by the British Academy Television Awards, losing to his co-star Bob Peck. Martin Scorsese directed him as a private detective in the 1991 remake of Cape Fear, hired by protagonist Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte) to protect his family from psychopathic ex-convict Max Cady (Robert De Niro).
Baker received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of North Texas in 1994.
While actor Carroll O'Connor was undergoing coronary bypass surgery, Baker took his place on the television series In the Heat of the Night. Baker appeared as Captain Tom Dugan, a retired police captain who substituted while O'Connor's character was away at a police convention. More recently, he appeared in Joe Dirt, The Dukes of Hazzard, and Strange Wilderness.
In 2009, Baker delivered another performance in The Cleaner on A&E, playing an alcoholic military veteran attempting to help a friend cope with the loss of his son. He hires William Banks (played by Benjamin Bratt) to help him start back down the road to sobriety. Baker played King in Mud (2012).
James Bond series
In 1987, Baker played the villainous arms dealer Brad Whitaker in the James Bond film The Living Daylights, starring Timothy Dalton as 007. In 1995 and 1997, Baker returned to the series, this time playing a different character, CIA agent Jack Wade, in GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies, with Pierce Brosnan as Bond. Baker is one of four actors to appear as both a Bond ally and a villain, the others being Charles Gray, who appeared as Henderson in You Only Live Twice and Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever; Walter Gotell, who appeared as Morzeny, the SPECTRE Island trainer, in From Russia with Love and as General Gogol, the chief of the KGB, in six films between 1977 and 1987; and Richard Kiel as Jaws, in The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker, becoming Bond's ally against villain Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale) in the latter film.
Filmography
Honey West (TV show, Episode 15 "Rockabye the Hard Way", Dec. 24, 1965) as truckdriver Rocky Hansen
Cool Hand Luke (1967) as Fixer (uncredited)
The Big Valley (TV show, Episode "Lightfoot," 1969) as Tom Lightfoot
Gunsmoke (TV show) Episodes "Prime of Life" (1966) as Woody Stoner & "The Reprisal" (1969) as Tom Butler
Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969) as Slater
Adam at 6 A.M. (1970) as Harvey Gavin
The High Chaparral (1970), Season 4, Ep. 17
The F.B.I. (1970), Season 5, Ep. 22
Lancer (TV show, Episode 1 "The High Riders", (Sept. 24, 1968) as Day Pardee. Followed by Episode 13 "Shadow of a Dead Man", (Jan. 6, 1970) as Clovis Horner.
Wild Rovers (1971) as Paul Buckman
Mission Impossible (TV show) Episode "The Miracle" (1971) as Frank Kearney
Welcome Home, Soldier Boys (1971) as Danny
Junior Bonner (1972) as Curly Bonner
The Valachi Papers (1972) as Irish member of Valachi gang (uncredited)
That Certain Summer (1972) as Phil Bonner
The Streets of San Francisco (TV show, Episode "Beyond Vengeance", aired Mar. 8, 1973) as criminal Leonard Collier Cord
Walking Tall (1973) as Buford Pusser
Charley Varrick (1973) as Molly
The Outfit (1973) as Jack Cody
Golden Needles (1974) as Dan
Framed (1975) as Ron Lewis
Mitchell (1975) (also a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode) as Mitchell
Checkered Flag or Crash (1977) as Walkaway Madden
The Shadow of Chikara (1977) as Wishbone Cutter
Speedtrap (1977) as Pete Novick
The Pack (1977) as Jerry Preston
Eischied (1979) as Chief of Detectives Earl Eischied
Wacko (1982) as Dick Harbinger
Joysticks (1983) as Joseph Rutter
The Natural (1984) as The Whammer
Edge of Darkness (1985) as Darius Jedburgh (BBC miniseries)
Final Justice (1985) (also a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode) as Deputy Sheriff Thomas Jefferson Geronimo III
Fletch (1985) as Chief Jerry Karlin
Getting Even (1986) as King R. Kenderson
The Living Daylights (1987) as Brad Whitaker
The Killing Time (1987) as Carl Cunningham
Leonard Part 6 (1987) as Nick Snyderburn
Criminal Law (1988) as Det. Mesel
Defrosting The Fridge (1989) as Hunter McCall
In The Heat of The Night (TV show, Episode "Forever Fifteen", 1989) as Tom Dugan
The Children (1990) as Cliffe Wheater
Cape Fear (1991) as Claude Kersek
Citizen Cohn (1992) (TV-movie) as Sen. Joseph McCarthy
The Distinguished Gentleman (1992) as Olaf Andersen
Reality Bites (1994) as Tom Pierce
Ring of Steel (1994) as Man in Black
Underneath (1995) as Donovan
Panther (1995) as Brimmer
Congo (1995) as R.B. Travis
The Grass Harp (1995) as Sheriff Junius Candle
GoldenEye (1995) as Jack Wade
Disney's Animated Storybook: Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1995) as Owl (voice; video game)
Mars Attacks! (1996) as Glenn Norris
George Wallace (1997) (TV-movie) as Big Jim Folsom
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) as Jack Wade
Poodle Springs (1998) (HBO) as P.J. Parker
Vegas, City of Dreams (2001) as Dylan Garrett
Joe Dirt (2001) as Don, Brandy's Dad (uncredited)
The Commission (2003) as Rep. Hale Boggs
The Dukes of Hazzard (2005) as Gov. Jim Applewhite
Strange Wilderness (2008) as Bill Calhoun
The Cleaner (2009, "Last American Casualty") as Major Larry Duren
Mud (2012) as King
References
External links
Joe Don Baker at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection
1936 births
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
Living people
Male actors from Texas
People from Groesbeck, Texas
University of North Texas alumni